Roseville joins Cities for Safe and Stable Communities Coalition

The City of Roseville has joined the Cities for Safe and Stable Communities Coalition, which the city council unanimously approved at the Feb. 23 meeting.

The Cities for Safe and Stable Communities Coalition is a nonpartisan group of metro cities working to address the impacts of Operation Metro Surge.

The coalition's three core principles are "safety over partisanship, economic stabilization, and local control and constitutional rights."

The coalition is advocating for the state and federal government to find ways to stabilize communities whose economies, business community, and residents have been adversely affected by immigration enforcement activities.

The Coalition started with twelve cities in January and expanded to over 30, representing over 500,000 residents.

Mary Supple, mayor of Richfield, came to the Roseville city council meeting on Monday to share about the coalition.

"We joined together, because we thought—unified we have a bigger voice," Supple said.

The nonpartisan coalition is also concerned with restoring trust between residents and city public safety departments.

The Coalition hired Momentum Advocacy, a lobbying public affairs firm to administer the coalition and coordinate the advocacy efforts. This involves developing a messaging and public relations strategy, support for coalition events and press conferences, and coordinating meetings with local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials.

The current contract is for four months, ending on May 30, 2026 which is the end of the Minnesota Legislative Session. The total cost is $42,500 which will be split evenly between the cities in the coalition. If 30 cities join, an individual city would pay about $1,500.

Mayors in coalition cities are meeting via Zoom once a week to strategize. City managers are also meeting weekly.

"I think there’s a lot of benefit to be gained from joining the residents of Roseville’s voices with the city and all these other cities," Roseville resident Cari Gelle said during public comment. She also suggested that perhaps the coalition could continue past the Legislative session, even without the consultant.

"Supposedly the Operation is drawing down, but we don’t know what other crisis might face us in the future. Maybe this coalition is something that would support us through other needs down the road," Gelle said.

Andy Johnson, the other Roseville resident who participated in public comment, agreed with this idea. He also encouraged the council to focus more on the individuals who are suffering and sheltering in their homes for fear of immigration enforcement agents, rather than primarily focusing on businesses.

Johnson expressed skepticism that people who have been afraid to leave their homes will feel safe returning to daily activities quickly.

"It seems like a really bleak time for a lot of people," Johnson said.

During council discussion, all city councilmembers present expressed support for joining the coalition. Councilmember Robin Schroeder was absent.

Councilmember Julie Strahan made the motion to join the coalition and Councilmember Wayne Groff seconded the motion.

"Many voices are heard more than just individuals. And many cities joined together are going to get more attention than just one city," Councilmember Wayne Groff said.

Councilmember Matt Bauer mentioned that Roseville is also part of the League of Minnesota Cities, which represents cities across the state in advocacy that benefits local governments. But he supported joining this coalition because of its specific focus.

"This works well because of the targeted focus on the metro area," Bauer said.

Roe addressed the public comment about focusing on businesses over individuals by saying that businesses struggle when their employees struggle.

"A lot of times the impact to business is the result of those employees not being able to leave their home and not being able to trust that it's a safe situation," Roe said.

"All of the efforts we would be advocating for would be to help people in this community as well as across the broader Twin Cities area that have been impacted," Roe said.

The city council approved a resolution to join the coalition and authorized the City Manager to spend up to $3,000 for the membership. All city council members who were at the meeting voted in favor. The resolution passed 4-0.

Neighboring cities who have also joined the coalition include Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Maplewood, New Brighton, Shoreview, and Vadnais Heights.

Learn More

Learn more about what the coalition is doing by reading the Request for Council Action document from the Feb. 23 meeting.

You can also watch the press conference held by the mayors from the Safe and Stable Communities Coalition on February 19, as broadcast by Fox 9 News: